FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER September-October 2014
This image depicts a poster displayed at the recent Bernardo Heights Country Club Golf Tournament. Thanks Andre and Dorene!
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Commander's Corner:
The summer is coming to a close and we now look forward to the fall and the events it brings.
Some of the upcoming events are:
Sep 6th - General Meeting - Guest Speaker - Chaplain Dave Korinek - How the current Administration's policy has changed the Chaplain Corps.
Oct 11th - Massing of the Colors - Balboa Park - Piano Pavilion - 1000
Oct 11th - General Meeting - Guest Speaker - CDR Todd Perry - Secret Rescue Missions conducted by Navy SEALs during the War in Vietnam.
Nov 1st - General Meeting - Guest Speaker - ADM Irish Flynn - Events that lead to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Nov 11th - Veteran's Day - Webb Park - 1100.
Dec 6th - General Meeting - Guest Speaker - PO6 Walter Spain - Naval Intelligence Photographer, came ashore in the 3rd Wave on D-Day and remained so for the next three months.
Key Dates in History
September
02 V-J Day Japan signed formal surrender 1945
14 “Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key
17 U. S. Constitution Approved 1787
18 U. S. Air Force established 1947
October
07 Afghanistan War began 2001
13 U. S. Navy established 1775
23 Grenada Campaign began 1983
On behalf of the entire Chapter, I wish to sincerely thank RADM Hering for his most informative and compelling talk on Global Warming and its Impact on Geo-Politics at our August Meeting. RADM Hering, we hope to welcome you again in the near future.
Aviators - military or civilian, or Companions just interested in the exploits of the "Fly Boys" of Wars gone by, our invited to join the "Old Bold Pilots Association" for breakfast. They meet each Wednesday, 0700, at Denny's in Oceanside, off Camino Real Rd. We have at least three Chapter members who have joined the Association as well as past Guest Speakers, like ADM Dick Lyons.
Companions and Friends of the Chapter, we still are in need of several enthusiastic persons to assist with the Youth Leadership Conference Board of Directors and the Veterans History Project. Please email (nherbka@san.rr.com) or call me at 858-254-4905 for more information.
Enjoy the shorter and cooler days of summer ahead and plan to join us at the September General Meeting on the 6th.
-- Nick
Companion's Corner:
This is a previously hidden true-story about the Navy VP (Patrol
Aviation) community. A Navy P2V squadron, VO-67, recently received a
PUC (Presidential Unit Citation), 40 years after their heroic deeds.
OBSERVATION SQUADRON SIXTY-SEVEN (VO-67)
by Larry W. Gire
At the height of the Vietnam War, a secret Navy 12-plane squadron
arrived at the Nakhon Phanom Air Commando base in Thailand. The
squadron aircraft were old, retired from service, P2V-5F anti-submarine patrol planes that had been considerably modified into
armed, jungle green, gun ships. Of course, every would-be comic that
saw them at Nakhon Phanom asked, what’s the Navy going to do, hunt
for subs in the Mekong River? Read the rest of the fascinating story by clicking on this link. It is in Microsoft Word format.
-- Don
Chaplain's Corner:
Chaplain Dave Korinek will be the speaker at the September luncheon meeting. Subject:- How the current Administration's policy has changed the Chaplain Corps.
Editor's Corner:
Our speaker for the August meeting was a retired Navy flag officer with degrees in oceanography and meteorology. Rear Admiral Len Hering currently works in the sustainable energy field. His active duty assignments included a tour on the Joint Staff. The focus of his talk was the future of the planet and that of our grand children. His comments included the following points:
Due to advances in medical treatments and disease control, population levels are moving upwards at increasingly rapid rates.
By mid-century, the Earth's population will increase from approximately 6,000,000,000 to 9,000,000,000.
Currently, less than half of the Earth's population has access to clean water, modern sanitation systems and adequate diets.
India and China, two nations with close to half the world's population, are demanding an increasing amount and share of the world's energy resources much of which, such as coal, are major contributors to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases which cause global warming and climate change.
Burning of fossil fuels is raising the Earth's average temperatures and this increase will have a disastrous affect on life sustainability in the near future. Evidence of the impact is already observable.
Sustainable energy resources such as solar power and wind power have serious limitations in that clouds sometimes obscure the sun and the wind doesn’t allows blow hard enough to turn a turbine. Low water levels behind dams with hydroelectric power generation stations threaten the sustainability of this source of energy.
The most efficient and least polluting source of energy is nuclear power and the recent advances in the nuclear energy field have made safe generation and waste storage/recycling highly efficient and safe. The public’s irrational fear of nuclear power and the energetic efforts of radical environmental activists have made it all but impossible to build new nuclear power plants
I do not have the scientific expertise that our speaker has but certain comments he made rang precisely true with encounters I had in my travels as an anti-terrorism trainer. Sea level rise due to warming of the oceans and melting ice sheets will have a disproportionate impact on areas of the globe where poverty and population density are a serious concern - Bangladesh for instance, dubbed “Ground Zero of Climate Change”. This factor piles on top of food and water shortage will result in large-scale population displacement and the associated chaos caused by climate refugees. The national security implications of this phenomenon are very serious. The United States is not immune since this is a global problem.
In Pakistan, I was warned that the tap water even in the absolute best hotels in Karachi, Islamabad and other major cities was not safe to drink or to use for brushing one's teeth. The air pollution in Pakistan's major cities was visible to the naked eye and easily detected by the reaction of one's lungs. The poverty was clear the number of beggars and the homeless.
In Tunisia, a highly educated and multi-lingual security official commented on the increasing desertification of North Africa where the Sahara is expanding south year by year.
In Senegal, the same complaint about increasing dryness was voiced as in Tunisia. The lack of sanitation and potable water was also evident.
In Egypt, the pollution in Cairo could almost be cut with a knife, overcrowding was indisputable and security officials were highly concerned with the stark fact that Egypt had no way to grow enough food to feed its own population which was increasing at unmanageable rates.
In Israel, officials were cognizant of the fact that water was running out and major efforts were being mounted to recycle waste water and build desalinization plants. Parts of the Dead Sea had already dried out completely and the Sea Of Galilee's water levels were dropping yearly and not being renewed. Jordan had the exact same concern about water.
Saudi officials expressed concern about popular unrest at the prospect of oil and gas production depleting as the population increased.
In China, a police official in a major metropolitan area which had scores, if not hundreds, of high rises to house the city's population, noted that if all the city's residents came out of their homes at the same time, there would not be enough space within the city limits for them to stand. In Beijing, foggy days were clearly due to emissions from vehicles and power plants. You could see it with your own eyes which were irritated enough to add more proof if any doubt existed.
There are other examples I could site from Latin America...from Argentina to Brazil to Guatemala. Right here in San Diego, one can stand on the hill where the University of San Diego is located overlooking I-8. On most days there is a gray cloud of pollution clearly visible over the Interstate.
There is an enormous amount of controversy about warnings such as given by Adm. Hering. Political differences have intruded to the point where one side is accusing the other of lying about climate and population issues in order to take control of the nation. On the other hand, some of those sharing Adm. Hering's views have accused those who do not share those views of willfully putting profits ahead of the future of human life on Earth. As for me, I have seen and heard enough to stand with Adm. Hering's warnings on this issue.
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A recent book review in ARMY Magazine, August Issue, caught my eye and I though it would be of general interest. The book is "Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War" by Peter R. Mansoor. Yale University Press. Read the review here in PDF format.
The review was written by By Col. Richard Swain, U.S. Army retired.
-- Dave
Publisher's Corner:
This is the second edition of The Patriot to be published on-line in the new format. Acceptance of the change has been strong with many positive comments. For the time being, we intend to continue with bi-monthly publication.
Beginning with this issue, we have established a "Companion's Corner" for publication of material submitted by members of the Chapter. Our first contributing Companion is our Adjutant, Don Hershberger. More contribution by General J.P. Holland Companions would be welcome. Please send you suggested material to the editor for review and inclusion.
-- Tom
Birthdays in the Month of September:
Michael Borer 02 Sep 1939
Patrick Dettmar 05 Sep 1948
Faith Gonzalez 06 Sep 1915
Nick Herbka 08 Sep 1948
Carmina Crittenden 12 Sep 1971
George Harris 19 Sep 1944
Heather Austin 23 Sep 1948
Beth Ann Lascola 28 Sep 1964
Lori Lascola 28 Sep 1964
Birthdays in the Month of October:
Eldon Baker 2nd
George Churchill 4th
David Epstein 6th
Harry Hodges 8th
David Korinek 8th
David Austin 17th
David Olivet 21st
On behalf of the entire Chapter, we wish the above Companions a most wonderful and Happy Birthday! We would enjoy singing to you at the next Gerneral Meeting.
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Copyright© 2014, General J. P. Holland Chapter, The Military Order of the World Wars – All rights reserved. Updated 9/4/14